


disparate youth (or yet another high school AU)

by rurokun



Series: fairy tail high school [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, F/M, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Not Beta Read, Rating May Change, Slice of Life, Strip Poker, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-11 08:26:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7040797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rurokun/pseuds/rurokun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>See, Natsu is far from a shallow student. Sure, he's rowdy and obnoxious and sometimes a bit too cocky for his own good. But as far as high school guys go, he's a pretty down to earth kid who isn't really up for dating six or seven girls within a period of one semester.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>But <b>her.</b> This girl, this student, this classmate is so fucking pretty, it should be illegal. And then he thinks about it, and he's actually glad it's not illegal, or he would have gone his whole life without seeing her face.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>And they lock eyes and she smiles, Jesus Christ. It's been thirty seconds and this girl already has him wondering about her name and what her hobbies are and whether she likes Coke or Pepsi and what her favorite ice cream flavor is and whether or not she enjoys going to an amusement park or sleeping under the stars and he's such a goner, it's actually pretty pathetic.</i>
</p><p>--</p><p>Otherwise known as the somewhat better remake of a <a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6273350/1/High-School-Hookups">semi popular fic</a> on fanfic dot net that I wrote in middle school</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. she's so lovely

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so this is from my ff.net account and it's actually a rewrite of another story that I wrote during middle school. hope you guys like it, i dont really know if im going to continue it (?) but i really want to cause i just love this story way too much. btw ill add tags later but i have school tomorrow and its really late lol anyway please enjoy.

"Pssst, Erza."

"There is a fly disturbing my presence."

"Pssssssst, Erza."

"I am contemplating on whether or not I should kill it."

"Oh, come _on_ , Erzaaaa. Just tell me the answer to number four and I'll give it a rest."

"Cosecant squared theta minus two times cotangent squared theta."

"Ha! I knew I got it right! Ouch, Erza! Come on, I said I'd leave you alone," Natsu complains, rubbing the back of his shoulder blade where the redhead's fist connects almost perfectly to the sensitive bone. The young woman is absolutely terrifying, but she does have her moments, albeit few and rare.

"Too late. I have already punched you," Erza replies coolly, the beginnings of a smug grin forming on her lips. She will never admit it, but Natsu has always been a very adventurous and exciting friend. Although they bicker and argue constantly, she completely trusts and cares for the younger junior, almost in a sort of sisterly fashion.

She hears someone snort, and turns to find Gray holding back a laugh as he hurriedly attempts to write the answer down from memory. Nearly a carbon copy of Natsu, Gray is as loud as he loyal, and Erza's life would have been much quieter and a lot less fun if she did not have Natsu and Gray.

The class is knee deep in Calculus work and attempting to finish a week's work of homework assignments to be able to actually enjoy the early start of a lovely October sky, when a knock on the door immediately glues every pair of eyes to it to see who might be walking in.

"For fuck's sake, if that's Evergreen coming back to steal my transparencies yet again," The teacher, Mr. Laxus Dreyar, scorns under his breath as he opens the door.

Instead of the glasses wearing she-devil, it's the principal, Makarov, and a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes. Laxus furrows his eyebrows.

"New student? In the last week of September?"

"Special case, Laxus."

The teacher takes the manila folder and flips through the papers, his eyebrows raising in understanding. He nods and motions for the girl to enter the classroom, leaving the manila envelope on his desk.

"Class, we have a new student, so shut up and listen."

The amount of eyes on the young woman are incredibly daunting. Most of them whisper a few comments about her attractive face and fit physical appearance, a few simply continue with their work, and even one student continues to nap through all of the commotion.

And Natsu? Well, that's a tough one to explain.

See, Natsu is far from a shallow student. Sure, he's rowdy and obnoxious and sometimes a bit too cocky for his own good. But as far as high school guys go, he's a pretty down to earth kid who isn't really up for dating six or seven girls within a period of one semester.

But _her_. This girl, this student, this classmate is so fucking _pretty_ , it should be illegal. And then he thinks about it, and he's actually glad it's not illegal, or he would have gone his whole life without seeing her face.

And they lock eyes and she _smiles_ , Jesus Christ. It's been thirty seconds and this girl already has him wondering about her name and what her hobbies are and whether she likes Coke or Pepsi and what her favorite ice cream flavor is and whether or not she enjoys going to an amusement park or sleeping under the stars and he's such a goner, it's actually pretty pathetic.

"Her name is Lucy, and she's going to be joining our class for the continuation of the year, and if you hassle her, I will have no choice but to kick your ass, so behave yourselves."

A wave of laughter washes over the classroom, including Lucy, and Natsu swears to God that if he keeps it up, Gray is going to be calling him whipped for the rest of the year to a girl he doesn't even know.

"Lucy, you may sit wherever you would like to. We change seats during the second semester."

"Thank you, Mr. Dreyar," Lucy replies, her voice light and tinkling. She looks around for a few seconds before choosing to sit next to Levy, a blue haired sweetheart who is currently hiding _All Quiet on the Western Front_ behind her Calculus textbook.

Natsu droops, feeling beyond forlorn, but then she looks at him again and smiles and then before he can even blink, she gives him a small wave. And Christ on a cracker, she is so attractive and he can't help but wave back like a seven year old waving to Rapunzel at Disneyland.

"Obvious, much?" Erza mumbles, stifling a grin behind her hand.

The pink haired menace scowls at her, a light blush forming on his cheeks as he continues with his Calculus problems, using all of his willpower to not stare at the pretty girl sitting four rows away from him.


	2. crush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im just trying to post the first five chapters because... i actually dont know why lol i just want to see if the audience here is different than the one on ff.net

Lucy quickly warms up to many of the people at Fairy Tail high school, her first friends being Levy McGarden and Juvia Lockser. She slowly begins to learn about many of their friends, including Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, and the pink haired fellow with the cute face, Natsu Dragneel.

Okay, it was incredibly obvious on the first day of school that this Natsu guy had a small crush on Lucy, and Lucy has to admit, he's kind of growing on her as well. She hasn't exactly started a conversation with him in fear of making a fool of herself (she does that quite often), but after hearing about how funny and sweet he actually is, Lucy finds herself wanting to talk to the guy even more, fears of humiliation and all.

So that's what prompts Lucy to stay after class on a Friday morning to wait for Natsu, and maybe (hopefully) try to convince him to walk her to class without completely sticking her foot in her mouth.

Lucy takes a deep breath, shakes out her hands, and rubs them against the sides of her black denim shorts before walking over to Natsu, who is busy shoving papers and books into his backpack.

"Hey, Natsu?"

He turns around and his eyes widen at the girl in front of him. She raises her eyebrows, worried she might have a gigantic zit on her nose or some pepper on her teeth from her omelet this morning, but then he smiles and _whoa_ , that is one attractive smile.

"Hi, hey. Yeah, that's me. And you're Lucy," Natsu says stupidly, and he's already sweating buckets because that is the _dumbest_ fucking thing in the world to say, of course she knows that her name is Lucy, it's her _name_.

"Look, um, this may seem kind of weird, and I promise I'm not weird, but would you mind walking me to class?"

Natsu's jaw nearly drops to the floor, but he remembers that gaping at a really pretty girl is completely rude and not cool at all, so he just nods furiously and quickly throws his backpack over his shoulders.

Lucy laughs, and Natsu mentally high fives himself.

\--

They walk slowly to 2nd period, since both of their classrooms are on the same floor, and although it's a bit of awkward laughs in the beginning, they slowly ease into the conversation. He finds out about her last school and how upset she was to leave so many of her friends, but soon became happy after meeting people who accepted her right away at Fairy Tail high school.

Before she can bring up another topic, the late bell rings, and they jump. She quickly says her goodbyes and runs into her classroom, giving a quick 'thank you' before he runs into the classroom adjacent to hers.

Natsu is on Cloud 9 all throughout 2nd period, and by the time nutrition rolls around, the high has yet to wear off. After Natsu tries to peel his orange with a fork, Gray finally acknowledges his friend's incredibly strange behavior.

"Dude, what the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" Gray asks, squinting his eyes at Natsu.

"It's Lucy, dude. We talked on our way to 2nd period and Jesus, she's so fucking nice. I mean, we were just talking about school and friends and she was so enamored by the whole conversation. She used her hands a lot and then she would laugh at certain things, and then her eyes would get really big to the point that I could see her irises, and fuck, I think I have a crush on Lucy."

"Wow, you're already whipped and you just barely met the girl an hour ago," Gray says, taking a bite of his coffee cake. Natsu shoots his straw wrapper at Gray's head, and he flips him off.

"Did you get her number yet?"

"I just met her."

"Wow, can't even get her-"

"Hey, fuck you. It's not like you're getting any numbers."

"I have numbers!"

"Oh, yeah? From who?"

"Lisanna just gave me her number yesterday."

"You two have a history project together."

Gray ends up socking him in the arm, and before they know it, an all out war begins to unfold at their table. Fortunately for the rest of the students, they know to steer clear of Gray and Natsu's table and simply finish their coffee cakes in peace.

Meanwhile, at another table, Levy is avidly listening to Lucy's excitement over her and Natsu's conversation to class.

"Oh my God, he's actually the nicest guy in the world. I mean, I just kept talking and talking and I felt so annoying, but he just nodded and listened and he seemed interested in what I had to say, and I felt my insides turning into mush because he's really sweet and so adorable and Levy, oh my _God_ , I think I have a crush on Natsu."

"You barely met him today, Luce," Levy says, taking a quick sip of her orange juice.  
  
"I know, but I just think he's so nice and funny and smart, I mean he's taking AP Calculus, that has to count for something."

"He's getting a C."

"Levy, two thirds of the people in our class are getting a C."

"Look, Lucy. I'm not saying Natsu is a bad guy, because he's not. I'm just saying to not rush into anything right now and just take your time in getting to know him. Maybe your feelings might change, or maybe they'll become stronger. Meanwhile, just try to keep that B+ in AP Cal at a B+."

Lucy sighs, but she knows that Levy is right. She sneaks a glance at Natsu's table to find him fighting with Gray, and she can't help but laugh at how endearing the whole thing is.

"You're staring again."

"Shh, don't point it out."

 


	3. beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should i put... a chapter summary ? im really not used to posting multiple chapters on ao3 so i feel like im doing something wrong :/ anyway here's the 3rd chapter yay

After a week of pleasant conversations between passing periods, Natsu finally works up the nerve to ask for her number. It's a difficult mission as far as he's concerned. What if she says no? Or gives him a weird look or something? Or what if she just completely stops talking to him? Fuck, he can't do it and _shit_ , she's walking over to him already, fuck fuck _fuck-_

"Hey, Luce," Natsu says, as he lets her walk out of the classroom first, following and then settling beside her.

"Hey, did you get the Calc homework yesterday? I'm pretty sure I just turned in a piece of crap to Mr. Dreyar and I feel so bad-"

"Could I have your number?"

Lucy actually stops walking and stares at him with the biggest brown eyes that he has ever seen and _shit_ , he fucked up so bad, she's never going to talk to him ever again and it's because he just said it so _bluntly_ , why the fuck would he just _say_ it like that? Is he a seven year old or something, because that was so fucking-

"There you go."

Natsu is so busy thinking about the worst case scenario that he actually delays the reaction time of his vision, because Lucy is currently holding out a ripped piece of paper with ten digits on it. He just stares at it and then at her, and her smile is blinding, it's as if the sun has reincarnated itself in her smile. Lucy's smile begins to waver a bit as he continues to stare at her, but then he takes it and quickly shoves it in his pocket. He then proceeds to pull out a full sheet of paper (entirely unnecessary and a waste of paper) to write his number on it, and hands it to her.

Lucy laughs again, and he can't really feel his legs anymore but then the late bell rings and he runs to his classroom, almost tripping over his two left feet before crash landing into his seat. He pulls out the piece of paper and just looks at it, noticing how she wrote her name with a small loop in the L and the Y, and then added a little smiley face at the end of it.

The grin doesn't leave his face for the rest of the day.

\--

Natsu is the one to text her first.

_Hey_ , he writes, and almost doesn't hit send because it probably sounds really lame and she's probably busy with homework but he has to at least try so he sends it.

**Hi :)** , she sends back and he almost dances with excitement.

_Sorry, hope its not too late_

**No, its ok. Just doing homework**

_Oh I can text later_

**I said its ok silly, haha**

_oh alright then haha (:_

They text bland messages back and forth, but he's happy and she's happy because he actually texted her first which means that he thought about texting her and was probably planning to since passing period. They continue to text each other until Lucy caves and falls asleep, promising to text him tomorrow morning.

\--

"Lucy, you are gone."

"What?"

Erza rolls her eyes as she leans her shoulder against a locker, her blouse rising from her hip.

"You and Natsu. I can cut the tension between the two of you with a knife."

Lucy blushes and shrugs, continuing to transfer textbooks and binders from her locker. They remain comfortably silent until Erza speaks up again.

"I'm happy."

Lucy turns to Erza and raises an eyebrow.

"I've known Natsu for a long time, and I have never seen him as happy as he has been in these past three weeks."

Another blush spreads across Lucy's cheeks, but this time she smiles and closes her locker, walking with Erza to AP Cal. They continue with idle chit chat until they reach the classroom and head inside, sitting next to each other while they continue talking. The class slowly fills up until nearly everyone is inside, gossiping and talking to each other before Mr. Dreyar walks in and tells the class to "shut up and listen," prompting the usual laughter.

"Alright, you lazy bums. Test is next Friday, it's worth about 5% of your grade."

Groans fill the classroom.

"Stop complaining, it's chapters 3.2 and 3.3. You would have to be a complete idiot to fail these tests and I know that most of you are capable of getting an A."

"Awww, Mr. Dreyar! You do love us!"

"Two smart ass comments away from getting a fail, Dragneel!"

Erza merely rolls her eyes as Natsu snickers under his breath, a large grin on his face as he leans back in his chair. Lucy stifles a giggle behind her hand, tucking a pen through her messy bun.

The class ends rather uneventfully, and the bell rings to signal the end of class. Mr. Dreyar yells at people to study and finish the homework due tomorrow, while the class quickly files out of the door.

Lucy walks up to Natsu as usual, waiting for him to finish putting away his papers when someone taps her on the shoulder.

She turns around to find, who else, but Gajeel Redfox towering over her, piercings and all.

"Um, Gajeel, right?"

He grunts in agreement. Lucy can feel the awkwardness wrapping her like a coat.

"You know the bookworm."

"Levy?"

"Yeah, her."

"Um, yes. I do know her. Why do you ask?"

Lucy hallucinates for a second, because she almost sees the hint of redness starting to fill his cheeks, but he merely shoves a book in her hands and leaves the classroom, pushing past people to get through.

"What was that?" Natsu asks, too stunned to even try to stop Gajeel and punk him a bit.

"I think the sleeping giant has a crush on Levy."

"Really? Holy shit, that is the best thing I've heard all day," Natsu laughs, folding his arms behind his head.

"Shut up, it's very adorable that he would buy a book for Levy," Lucy replies, taking a glance at the cover, _Farewell to Manzanar_.

"It's pretty cheesy, if you ask me."

"Oh, really? What about you, Obi-Wan? Haven't you ever done anything cheesy for a girl before?"

"Believe it or not, I have," Natsu says, a large grin on his face.

"And what have you done?"

"For the past three weeks, I've been late to 2nd period because there's this girl that I really like walking to class with."

Lucy looks at him, and as he smiles to himself, she feels a pull in her tender heart strings. She ducks her head and blushes, a soft smile starting to form on her lips before she laughs. And then they both laugh and smile and it's dumb and it's small.

And it's a _start_.

 


	4. pretty lovely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why is this chapter so long lol anyway here's the 4th chapter ! tell me what you think .xo

It’s a Tuesday afternoon in the lunchroom when Erza announces to the lunch table, “Halloween costume ideas. Go."

Mirajane’s eyes sparkle as she starts listing off ideas in her head. Levy is busy reading _Farewell to Manzanar_ (the girls teased her about it endlessly, much to her embarrassment). Cana is currently taking lengthy sips of her inconspicuous water bottle, while Lucy is busy finishing off the food from both her and Levy’s lunch.

"Mario party! I'll be Princess Peach-"

"Mira, for the love of God, let us do something different. I will not stand being a toadstool,” Cana mumbles, rubbing her right temple.

"Ummm, how about a Tarantino film?"

"Oh, that sounds cool, Levy. Which one?"

"We could do Kill Bill. It would be really easy, because all we would really have to do is wear all black, with the exception of one person who can be Beatrix."

Everybody turns their heads towards Lucy, who is in the process of trying to shove a forkful of Chicken Ceasar salad drenched in ranch into her mouth.

"What?" She asks, a small piece of lettuce falling onto her tray.

"You could definitely be a Beatrix Kiddo."

Lucy quickly eats her bite of salad before taking a sip of Sprite and answering, "If you guys wouldn't mind it, then I don't mind it."

"This is going to be great! Okay, we need to make up the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and then we need a Sofie Fatale.”

“I’ll be Sofie. I don't think I could be as ruthless as the other assassins,” Levy remarks, smiling bashfully.

“Elle Driver, right here! I can steal my little brother’s eyepatch from his pirate costume.” Cana then proceeds to close one eye and mimic holding a samurai sword.

“Could I be O-Ren Ishii?”

“Erza, I don’t think anybody else is capable of being as frightening as O-Ren Ishii except for you.”

She smiles warmly at the compliment, earning a cold shiver from the rest of her friends.

“I can be Budd! He seems like such a misunderstood character,” Mira coos, cradling her cheek in the palm of her hand.

“Mira, he’s a killer.”

“But he lied about selling his Hattori Hanzo sword!”

Lucy is content to continue eating her food while the rest of her friends talk until she remembers something.

“Um, we need a Vernita Green.”

“What about Lisanna?”

Mira winces as she replies, “She has a college retreat that week.”

“Hey, what about Juvia?”

The group of girls look towards the opposite side of the lunch room, where Juvia and Gajeel are sitting and chatting idly. Despite her tall stature, she’s exceptionally pretty and seems to be good company to talk to.

Lucy stands up and dusts off her skirt, saying “I’ll be right back,” before walking over to the nearly deserted lunch table. The blue haired girl doesn’t notice Lucy’s appearance until she’s already at the table. She smiles softly before responding with a lovely, “Hello.”

“Hi, Juvia!” Lucy tries not to cringe at how annoying her voice sounds before continuing her sentence. “We were just wondering if you’d like to be a part of our Halloween costume.”

Juvia furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “Is it just one big… costume?”

Lucy suppresses a laugh, which causes Juvia to turn a bright scarlet. Hell, even Gajeel cracked a smile at that.  
  
“It was an innocent question!” Juvia retorts, her hands cupping her cheeks.

“It was cute, don’t worry. We’re actually dressing up as the characters from Kill Bill. I’m going to be Beatrix Kiddo, of course. Unfortunately, we don't have another person to dress up as Vernita Green, so we were wondering if you’d like to be our sixth person.”

Juvia’s eyes gleam brightly. “That’s so thoughtful. Of course I will.”

“Awesome! Don’t worry about the costume, I’ve got that covered. We’re hoping to meet up at Erza’s house on Saturday so we could plan a Halloween party at Levy’s house.”

“Sounds great! Thanks for asking me,” Juvia replies, her cheeks still a burning garnet.

Lucy beams before turning back towards her lunch table. She takes a few steps before turning back around and asking, “Do you want to sit with us?”

Juvia’s eyes go wide before she turns to look at Gajeel.

“I couldn’t possibly leave Gajeel alone. That would-”

“Oi, I’m not five years old. Go on.”

“But, Gajeel-”

“I’ll sit with Dumb and Dumber. Someone needs to keep those two in check,” Gajeel replies before standing up and ruffling Juvia’s short hair. He then proceeds to walk over to Natsu and Gray’s table, where the duo begin fighting with the black haired giant. The yelling match soon grows to three voices shouting and hurling insults at each other.

Juvia smiles and quickly stands up before following Lucy to the table. The girls are busy chatting away when the duo reaches the table. Juvia feels a small surge of nervousness but it melts away as Lucy introduces her to the rest of the table.

“Hey, Juvia. The name’s Cana.”

“It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Mirajane, but everyone calls me Mira.”

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Erza.”

“I’m Levy! It’s nice to meet you, Juvia.”

“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“Sit down! Let’s gossip! Tell me about yourself, Juvia,” Mira asks, leaning in as her eyes fill with mirth.

“Don’t scare her, Mira! Please forgive her, she’s far too nosy.”

Mira gasps before exclaiming, “Don’t confuse being nosy with curiosity!”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“Ah, but satisfaction brought it back.”

“Ooo, good one, Mira. I have to write that one down,” Levy whispers, pulling out her notepad before scribbling the quote in a messy scrawl.

Juvia laughs jovially before answering, “It’s alright. Let's see... Well, I’m 17 and I love of drawing. I prefer coffee over tea and my bedroom is a complete and utter disaster.”

“You enjoy drawing?”

“Yes, I’ve been drawing since sixth grade. It’s probably my greatest passion.”

“Oh, how lovely. I’m a horrible artist. My stick figures are mediocre, at best,” Lucy replies, waving her fork in the air for dramatic effect.

The group of girls continue talking for the remainder of the lunch period. They can’t help but feel content with Juvia in their little group. It isn’t that they were incomplete before, but their wholesome group manages to feel a bit more wholesome, a bit more full, and it’s a wonderful feeling.

For a few moments, Natsu sneaks a glance at Lucy’s table. His eyes land on her shoulder, and then they slowly trail up to her cheek. She’s laughing at something and her cheeks are flushed pink.

It feels so private, to view someone in such complete happiness. Natsu can’t help but feel like a voyeur in some way, and he blushes before turning back to argue with Gray and Gajeel.

\--

Juvia walks to her 5th period class with a bit more spring in her step. For a few moments, her anxiety while entering the class has been forgotten as she walks to her seat and takes out her notebook.

The late bell rings as someone rushes into class. Juvia looks up to see Gray smiling sheepishly at Mrs. Evergreen before rushing to sit down in his seat directly in front of Juvia. She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves but realizes that that is such a bad idea because Gray is wearing the most _intoxicating_  scent of cologne and she can barely feel herself think-

“Miss Lockser!”

Juvia jolts out of her daydreams as the classroom fills with stifled giggles and snickers. She burns a bright scarlet and pulls the sleeves of her pullover down to her wrists, using the piece of clothing as a defense mechanism. Gray looks back at her and gives her a playful grin, causing her blush to deepen.

“Did you complete yesterday’s assignment?”

“Y-Yes, Ms. Evergreen.”

“Good. Next time, please bring yourself back to Earth when the bell rings.”

Juvia sighs in complete humiliation as she buries her face in her arms.

APUSH goes on for what seems like an eternity, and Juvia prays to whatever heaven that her 6th period class can pass by without a hitch. She quickly packs up all of her belongings and rushes out of the door.

Gray, on the other hand, is quick to notice the blue haired girl leave. He’s a teenager, he knows a pretty girl when he sees one. But this girl, Juvia - she’s pretty interesting, a pretty Something. Pretty cool, pretty intelligent, a lot more than just ‘pretty.’

He’s about to get up and leave for his next class until he notices a binder underneath Juvia’s desk. He reaches down to grab it and notices the pretty photograph of a flower on the cover before opening it to see if it has some sort of schedule on it. There are a few papers titled “Spanish Three, Room 411,” and so he rushes upstairs to return his binder.

Well, okay, rushing is a bit of an exaggeration. His last class is AP Chem but his teacher Gildarts is way too cool and won’t mind if he’s late.

(Especially if it’s over a girl. Then he would probably want Gray to be late every day. But he can’t take advantage of a cool guy like Gildarts).

He reaches Room 411 as the bell rings, and searches for Juvia’s head of blue hair. He finds her in the opposite side of the room, digging around in her backpack, most likely for her Spanish binder.

The teacher hasn’t begun the lesson yet and is currently facing the computer, so he quickly walks over to her desk and places the binder on Juvia’s desk.

As if Juvia wasn’t feeling embarrassed before, here appears Gray in all his damn attractive glory, placing her forgotten binder on the top of her desk. Her cheeks become a permanent tomato red as he places a finger to his lips and grins, before rushing out of the class.

_‘Oh my, God. I’m a fucking goner.’_

\--

Finally, for the love of God, school is finally over for the day, and Juvia jumps out of her seat and nearly sprints to the stairwell, down the stairs, and towards the entrance of the school. She reaches into her pocket to pull out her -

_Keys. Oh my, God. Where are my keys? Are you fucking kidding me?_

She speed walks to her metallic blue Mercedes and unabashedly places all of her school belongings onto the trunk. Rifling through her backpack turns up absolutely nothing, and the only thing that she’s able to pull out from her pockets is a bunch of lint and straw wrappers from Starbucks.

“Are you fucking _kidding_ me?!” Juvia yells at the sky, ignoring the strange looks from the rest of the students. Defeated, she lies down on the hood of her car and contemplates living there for the rest of her life, when a voice speaks up.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic?”

“Listen here, you fuck-”

Juvia sits up and points a finger at the source of the voice, who just so happens to be the reason why she wanted to leave early in the first place.

Feeling far too pissed off, she continues her rant with, “I’ve had a really stressful day-”

Gray smirks.

_Ba-bump._

“-and I would really appreciate it if you would let me lie here in peace.”

Juvia pulls her hood over her eyes and crosses her arms. Suddenly, a slight jangling sound piques her ears and she sits back up. Her eyes zone in on the key ring that’s hanging off of Gray’s index finger.

Gray really doesn’t want to be that guy, okay? He really doesn’t but _wow_ , Juvia is pretty fucking attractive when she’s angry. He twirls the keys for a few moments before tossing them to Juvia. She catches them, and for the third time that day, she’s speechless.

“You need to slow down.”

Juvia breaths out a laugh before replying, “I own a Mercedes so I wouldn’t have to.”

“Oh, so she has jokes,” Gray muses, rubbing his chin with his forefinger and thumb. Juvia laughs again, rolling up the sleeves on her pullover.

“Thank you for returning my binder.”

“It had a nice photo on it.”

Juvia squints at him before asking, “What photo?”

Now it’s Gray’s turn to be confused. “The photo of a flower.”

“Do you mean my drawing?”

Gray’s eyes go wide. “That was a fucking _drawing?!_ ”

This time, Juvia laughs, no holds bar. The type of throw your head back and clutch your stomach type of laugh. She nods before pulling out her binder and handing it to Gray. He takes it and immediately holds it about an inch from his face.

“Holy shit.”

“I drew it a few months back. Trust me, I can’t always draw like that.”

“This is- you’re amazing.”

Juvia ignores the fluttering in her stomach as she smiles and thanks him.

\--

“Ah, look at them. They’re so cute,” Lucy mutters to herself as she watches the interaction between Juvia and Gray from across the parking lot. She manages to tear her eyes away and unlock her car door before Natsu comes flying out of seemingly nowhere and landing directly on her front window.

“Can I help you, stranger?”

“I missed the bus,” Natsu mumbles, his face still mushed against the glass.

“And whose fault is that?”

“My teacher’s?”

“Wrong answer, but since you’re cute, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Natsu straightens himself out and raises both arms in victory before sliding off the hood and into the passenger seat. He then proceeds to recline the seat and put both arms behind his head.

“Are you honestly going to nap in my car?”

“Are you implying that I _can't_  nap in your car?”

Lucy rolls her eyes in affection as she pulls out of the parking space and onto the road.

“Type your address into the GPS.”

“Do you know where Levy lives?”

“Um, yes? I don’t see how that has anything to do with your house, dummy.”

“I’m her neighbor, dummy.”

Lucy looks at him in disbelief.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have walked over to your house and we could have hung out.”

“I don’t know, it just slipped my mind.”

“Yeah, that tends to happen a lot to you.”

“Oi! What are you saying?”

Lucy rolls her eyes again and smiles to herself.


	5. nothing compares to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so hopefully now that i have posted these chapters on ao3, i will be motivated to continue this story. hope you enjoy !! .xo

They reach Natsu’s house in record time considering that Lucy’s already been to Levy’s house a few times for study sessions.

“Come on, sleepy head. Which one is your house?”

Natsu stretches his arms over his head and slowly opens his eyes.

“Are we there already?”

“Yes, and I’m double parked because I don’t know which driveway to pull into.”

“Oh, shit, sorry. It’s the one with the big tree in the front yard.”

Lucy slowly pulls into the driveway and puts the car in park before turning the ignition off. She gets out of the car and admires the house. It’s large but quaint, with shutters on the windows and flowers lining the front. The tree is tall but large enough that it shades the doorway of the house.

“It’s so pretty.”

“Ya think so? I’m more into tinier houses, but this one is pretty cozy,” Natsu replies, unlocking the front door. Natsu leads her down a hallway which leads into a front room with a fireplace, and a kitchen separated by a wall with an opening in the middle. It’s a bit 70’s-esque, with a sliding door that leads to a backyard and pool. There are stairs up against the opposite side of the sliding door that lead up to the second floor.

“Okay, _now_ I’m officially in love with your house.”

“I actually prefer Levy’s house, she has a much nicer backyard.”

Lucy immediately drops her backpack and runs for the couch, where she crash lands on the soft worn leather.

“This is the life.”

Natsu barks out a laugh before tossing his backpack and jacket onto a recliner.

“You hungry?”

“Oh my, God. I’m fucking starving, are you gonna cook? You’re a godsend.”

“Just call me Abraham.”

“Do you usually cook?”

“Yeah, actually. My parents normally get home pretty late, so I start dinner at around 6 pm, but I can whip us up some grilled turkey sandwiches.”

“That sounds awesome, please and thank you.”

Natsu heads to the kitchen to start cooking while Lucy sighs blissfully on the soft couch. She peeks over to see Natsu pulling out some ingredients from the fridge, his long sleeves pushed up to his elbow.

Her face goes beet red as she realizes how _domestic_ this is, with him cooking and Lucy about to take a short nap on the couch and oh my god oh my _god_ , stop thinking about that, you dumb dummy. She slaps her cheeks to shake her head out of marital thoughts and decides to sit up and turn on the television when a dark haired girl comes running down the stairs. She locks eyes with Lucy and gasps.

Before Lucy can greet herself, the little girl immediately exclaims, “Are you Natsu’s girlfriend?”

Lucy’s eyes go wide and her cheeks go crimson. They hear a pan lid clatter loudly on the ground, followed by a short, “Fuck!” and then Natsu comes barging in, face red and glaring at the little girl. Instead of cowering under his gaze, she grins cheekily before running back upstairs.

The blonde turns around to face Natsu, a grin trying to force itself on her lips.

“Who was that adorable little girl?”  
  
Natsu lets out a sarcastic laugh before leaning against the wall. “That was my 11 year old sister, Wendy, and I won’t even begin to explain how wrong you are on the term adorable.” He blows a stray lock of hair out of his eyes before heading back to the kitchen.

“She was cute! I don’t know what you're talking about, Natsu,” Lucy replies, standing up to admire the small bookshelf embedded into the staircase.

“Cute! That’s a good one, Luce. You’re a real funny gal.”

“Stop it, Natsu. It’s so obvious that you’re incredibly fond of your little sister.”

The lack of response causes Lucy to let a short laugh before covering her mouth with her hand.

“I heard that!”

“I’m sure you did!” Lucy replies, pulling out a hardcover copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ with her right hand and a paperback copy of  _Jane Eyre_ in the other. She returns to the couch and opens _Jane Eyre_ first, quickly noticing the Old English and the immense amount of vocabulary. Time escapes her and suddenly there’s a movement on the couch that pulls her out of the book.

“God, I hated that book,” Natsu mutters, holding out her turkey sandwich as he sits cross-legged on the couch.

“Really? I’ve only read about 30 pages and it’s incredibly lovely. Thank you,” Lucy replies, taking the plate and setting the book aside.

“Nah, it’s pretty boring. Too long for me, I guess.”

“What’s your favorite book?”

“Easy, _The Reader_.”

“Natsu! That’s a scandalous book.”

“Alright, then what’s your favorite book?”

"... _Anna Karenina_."

"Oh, like that one isn't scandalous."

They continue their conversation well into the late afternoon, their empty plates sitting on the coffee table and Lucy's books being forgotten on the armrest. She glances over at a wall clock and is shocked to see how late it is.

"Oh, my God. It's already 5:30?"

"I should text my parents to bring Chinese food, cause I'm too lazy to cook again,” Natsu grins sheepishly, pulling out his phone.

“Natsu, I’m sorry. I have to go, like right now and-”

“You can’t stay for dinner? I’m sure your food already went down and-”

“My father is going to _kill_ me, I really can’t stay. I’m so sorry.”

“Okay, that’s fine. Hey, look at me, Luce.”

Lucy realizes that she hasn’t even turned to face Natsu as she continues packing up her stuff. Her eyes glance over and she feels her breathing go back to normal when she sees a soft, smiling Natsu looking back at her.

“I’m… sorry, for freaking out like this. My father is- he’s very strict.”

“Hey, don’t worry, I understand. I just hate seeing you so flustered, Luce.”

Her brown eyes go soft and she smiles at him.

“Thanks, Natsu.”

“Here, let me walk you out.”

“Okay, let me just put these books back.”

“What? Nah, keep ‘em. You’re probably going to read them in a day or something, so just give them back to me at school.”

“Really? Thank you so much! I hope your parents don’t worry.”

“They sometimes forget that we even have a bookshelf.”

They exit the house and Lucy unlocks her car, but not before looking up at the large oak tree. Despite its old age, It’s immensely beautiful.

“Thanks for … lunch?”

“Ah, sure. Let’s go with that. More like a supper.”

“Isn't that just a fancy word for dinner?”

“You know what I mean!”

She laughs again, and he grins at her and he’s honestly so painfully endearing that she can’t help but plant a quick kiss on his cheek. It’s chaste, at best, but sweet.

Natsu’s face heats up but he still manages to blurt out, “Whoa, what will I get if I make you dessert? Joking! It was a joke! I’m kidding!” He yells out as she starts to hit him on the shoulder.

“You are fucking incredible, oh my, _God_ ,” Lucy mutters, rolling her eyes and laughing before entering her car.

“Soooo, I’ll see you at school, Darling?”

“Get out of my face, you’re such a moron.”

“Hard to get! You’re a woman after my own heart.”

“Good _bye_ , Natsu!”

“Okay, see you tomorrow, honey!”

Lucy shakes her head and smiles before taking off.


	6. let's get physical

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is long enough for a chapter, right ? anyway... did you guys read the newest chapter? holy FUCK... i cried a little bit. ): i hope this chapter cheers up the sad ppl .xo

"Okay, so I just want to reiterate this."

"Uh oh, you only use big words when you're pissed off."

Lucy laughs out loud at this accusation, and Natsu gives her a cheeky grin because he  _knows_ that he's right, and that laugh was just a clear indicator that he hit the nail right on the head. They're sitting next to each other in Calculus, having a conversation about everything and nothing. Mr. Dreyar just so happened to have a doctor's appointment on the day before Halloween, and this meant a flustered and clearly inexperienced substitute teacher who was only about 10 years older than the actual students being appointed to their class period. It's a nice break from the onslaught of worrying about SAT's and the upcoming Thanksgiving assignments. 

"You have never watched Kill Bill in its entirety."

"Do you really expect me-"

"To sit through four hours of a movie? Hell yes I do! It's totally worth it!"

"I just never have four hours in a day to watch a movie."

"You text me until 1 am on most days."

"That is a complete low-blow. I expected more from you, Lucy," Natsu scolds, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. Lucy punches his shoulder and Natsu feigns death, clutching his shoulder as if he was shot. Lucy rolls her eyes but the smile on her face is filled with affection. 

"Oh!" Lucy exclaims, remembering about the Halloween party. "Are you coming tomorrow to the party? Juvia and I are going to help Levy set up tonight because her parents are leaving for their anniversary dinner today and they won't be back for a few days. Could you, maybe help us out?" Lucy clasps her hands and bats her eyelashes for emphasis.

"Sure, no problem. I'll help clean up the pool and jacuzzi, it's always filled with leaves in the colder seasons even though it's heated. I never really understood that."

"Great! We're leaving right after school. Juvia is going to go buy the food and drinks, so she's going to stop by later on. Oh! I'm sorry to ask, but is there any way that you could go and buy some decorations? I would have asked Mira, but she's really busy with work, and her shift doesn't end until 8 o'clock. Do you mind?"

"Course not, I'll ask Gray to take me to Party City."

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate this." Lucy gives him a dazzling smile before pulling out a piece of notebook paper. "I'll give you my debit card and a list of everything that we need, but feel free to buy anything else that catches your eye."

Natsu watches as Lucy writes down  _'List'_ at the top of the paper, and begins creating bullet points in the margins. She bites her lip in concentration, probably thinking about all of the people that have already been invited, trying to remember how many rooms Levy has in her house, and how much space is available in the backyard.

The young man next to her, however, is captivated by the way she dots her i's and crosses her t's. It's strange how often his eyes linger on the expanse of her neck and the dip of her collarbones, because most of the skeevy guys in the school are always drawn to her chest and nothing else. He doesn't understand how people can ignore the curvature of her smile, the way her eyes crinkle when she laughs, the small mole adorning the tip of her ear.

And, Natsu will never admit this to  _anybody_ out of sheer embarrassment, but he gets a bit hot under the collar when Lucy wears skirts. Her legs are _long_ and lean and there's actually a small birthmark on her upper thigh, which makes him wonder about all of the other marks that are on her body and then he has to  _stop_ because it's absolutely inappropriate to think about one of his best friends in that way.

"Natsu, you okay? You look really sad all of a sudden," Lucy asks, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. 

"What? Nah, I'm fine, Luce. Just staring off into space," Natsu replies, giving her a reassuring grin.

Lucy feels her heart skip a beat, but she just smiles warmly and continues writing her list. 

\--

"You're so fucking gone for Natsu."

Lucy spits out the water in her mouth back into her water bottle and looks at Juvia incredulously. Her cheeks, however, are a bright pink, and the blush is quickly spreading to her ears. Lucy quickly looks around the restroom to see if any of their friends were inside, but it's clearly empty except for the two of them. 

"We've only known each other for a month."

"How does that correlate with my previous statement?"

"Because it just... does? Look, Juvie, it's way too early in our friendship to start something serious. Yeah, I _like_ the guy, but I also like what we have right now. I want a relationship based on friendship, and if there's no base, then what's the point of asking him out?"

Juvia leans against the mirror and contemplates Lucy's answer, because it's a pretty damn good answer. It's painfully obvious that Lucy and Natsu definitely have a  _spark_ , but she understands that Lucy is scared to start anything in fear of losing said spark. 

"Alright, fair enough. Slow and steady wins the race," Juvia remarks, raising her hands in surrender. Lucy smiles cheekily in triumph while she continues to reapply her mascara. After Lucy's done fixing her make-up, they leave the restroom and turn to go back to the cafeteria, when they hear something. They both stop and give each other puzzled looks. 

"What was that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Juvia mutters, glancing around the hallway to try and locate the sound. There's another one, and their heads turn towards the janitor's closet, located between the restrooms. 

"Oh, that's  _so_ fucking scandalous," Juvia whispers, grinning.

"Shh! They're opening the door, we gotta hide around the corner!"

They sprint to the end of the hallway and are able to hide just as the janitor's closet opens. 

"Holy  _fucking_ shit."

Erza walks out carefully, turning her head up and down the hall to avoid anybody seeing her walk out of a closet with Jellal. The senior's face is bright red, which stands in stark contrast against his dark blue hair. They quietly exit the closet and proceed to close the door slowly as to not make a sound. As soon as it closes, they both let out a sigh of relief, and Jellal raises his hand for a high five. Erza smiles and gently bumps her hand against his before leaning up for another kiss. 

"So, when can we start telling people?"

"How does after Halloween sound? I think all of the festivities are going to be the main priority right now, and telling our friends that we've been together for five months is going to be quite a shock."

"Perfect," Jellal replies, leaning down to kiss her nose. Erza blushes but tries to compose her expression to one of stoicism and calmness. 

"Are you going back to class?" 

"Yeah, I have college applications to work on, but I'll see you after school, right?"

"Of course. I can't wait."

Jellal gives her another sweet and sincere kiss before she heads back inside the cafeteria. He watches her go for a little bit before turning and walking the opposite way down the hall.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Juvia are standing around the other side of the hallway, completely dumbfounded.

"How did we not  _know?"_

"Are we that blind?"

"I'm just worried about graduation. Are they going to stay together? I hope so," Lucy whispers, wringing her hands in worry.

"Hey, remember what Erza said? They're going to tell us after Halloween. Let's just focus on setting up the party today, alright?"

Lucy nods in agreement before they both walk back down the hallway to the cafeteria. 

"... I still want to know what they were doing in the closet."

"Juvia, for the love of _God_ , let's just pretend this whole thing didn't happen."

\--

"Sooooo... how are you and Natsu?"

"Oh,  _now_ you want to gossip, Levy-chan," Lucy retorts, a smirk gracing her features as she continues clearing up the front room.

"I'm just curious! You two have become really close in such a short amount of time. I knew that you two liked each other, but Lu-chan, I've never seen Natsu so happy before," Levy replies, her eyes wide in honesty as she starts hanging up decorations.

"Like I told Juvia, I like what Natsu and I have right now, and hopefully that could grow a bit later on in the future, but for now, I just want to strengthen our friendship."

"Now that sounds like the Lucy I know," Levy giggles, hanging up a skeleton in the middle of the room.

Lucy smiles proudly at her friend's kind words, and walks to the screen door to see if Natsu is finished with the leaves in the pool so he can help her move the furniture. 

The young woman stops dead in her tracks and quickly hides behind the wall near the screen door. 

Natsu is currently shirtless and sweaty because there are way more leaves than he had anticipated, and he quickly became hot, so he had no choice but to discard of his shoes and shirt if he wanted to continue cleaning. 

Lucy, however, has never seen Natsu without a shirt on, and her face turns a deep scarlet when she notices how fit he is and how beautifully sculpted his torso and arms are and oh no, he's walking inside the house,  _practically naked_ , is this even legal? Is this proper guest etiquette? She runs to the kitchen and grabs a cold water bottle from the fridge and downs half of it in less than ten seconds. Her stomach gurgles at the fast intake of water, but it helps to cool her down and keeps her preoccupied when Natsu walks into the kitchen, his shirt hanging around his neck as a makeshift towel.

"Luce, could you pass me a water bottle?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure."

She reaches into the fridge to pull out another cold water bottle and hands it to Natsu. Despite the fact that her knees are shaking, she's actually doing a pretty swell job of playing it off as calm and collected. That is, until Natsu walks over to the sink and proceeds to dump some of the water on his head. He then takes his shirt and uses it as a headband, which actually seems to work in her favor because now he looks pretty ridiculous. 

Lucy lets out a small giggle, and Natsu whips his head around. 

"Are you laughing at me?" Natsu asks, narrowing his eyes in mock anger. 

"Why, Natsu! How could you ever assume such a thing?" 

Natsu blows a raspberry before returning outside to clean up the jacuzzi. Lucy finally lets out a large breath that she was holding in for a while, and splashes some water on her face. Levy walks inside with a huge smirk on her face. 

"Slow and steady wins the race, right?" Levy repeats while feigning innocence. 

"You're so lucky that you're one of my best friends."

"Yeah, I know," Levy replies cheerfully, skipping back to the living room to finish moving the furniture, because it's obvious that Lucy is _very_  preoccupied with other matters.

Lucy dries her face and lightly slaps her cheeks, trying to bring herself back to normal.

_It's fine, this is fine. Tomorrow is a new day, and you're going to have fun with your friends, including Natsu. He's your friend._

Lucy lets out another sigh before returning back to the living room and muttering, "This is going to be an extremely  _interesting_ year."


	7. uh huh, honey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay im sorry that ive been taking so long, the party is going to be in the next chapter, i just wanted to post this because it's been over a month and i want you guys to know that i have been writing this lmao please enjoy!! .xoxo

"I really hope the zipper on this bodysuit stays secure," Lucy laments, checking the clasp on the zipper for the millionth time.

"Lucy, you have nothing to worry about. At least your zipper reaches all the way up to your neck."

"You can say that because you don't have a zipper, Levy-chan," Lucy sighs, jealous of the sleek black outfits that the rest of the girls are wearing, while she's stuck having to wear a blinding yellow bodysuit. 

"Hey, Lucy, look on the bright side. You look really nice in the bodysuit," Juvia replies, smoothing out her black turtleneck in the mirror. Juvia and Lucy had decided to sleep over at Levy's house to get ready, while Mira, Erza, and Cana would be dressing up at Erza's house in the morning. Levy's house is already prepared for the party and the girls are dying for the school day to be over so they can party all night. 

"I'm just sad that I can't bring the fake katana into school with me."

"Look on the bright side! We have the Halloween party after school, so you can play with it there."

This makes Lucy feel better, and as she adds a bit more fake blood to her bodysuit, she wonders what costume Natsu is going to wear. After pestering him about his costume, he finally told her that it was going to be a surprise that she would  _never_ expect. So, with grace and a little bit of pouting, she finally dropped the matter and decided to wait impatiently for Halloween to come around.

"You're thinking about him again," Juvia remarks, causing Lucy to blush and stammer out some weak excuse about having a short attention span.

"Lu-chan, trust me. You are really going to like Natsu's costume."

Lucy gasps and gives Levy an incredulous stare. "You've known about his costume and didn't tell me about it?!"

"It's going to be a surprise! A really great surprise, please trust me on this, okay?"

With a huff and yet another pout, Lucy finally accepts her defeat and gets ready to leave for school. 

\--

"People have got to stop looking at me," Lucy whispers to Levy as they walk through the parking lot into school. Erza texted them to meet at Natsu's locker so they could all take a few pictures and then talk about last minute preparations for the party. juvia gets many a compliment from people of all genders, something that she is not entirely used to, and she smiles and blushes at all of the lovely words. Lucy, meanwhile, is getting far too many stares from the skeevy guys in their class, and decides to glare at each and every single one. The looks of fear on their faces makes her feel just a tiny bit better.

They turn the hallway and see a large group of people at Natsu's locker, with one of those people including Natsu.

"What is he wearing? I don't- wait. Oh my, God. Oh my, _God."_

Natu's costume is hard to decipher for most people walking the hallways, but for someone who has watched both volumes of Kill Bill at least thirty times each, Lucy immediately recognizes Natsu to be dressed as Bill, aka Snake Charmer, aka her pretend _love interest._

_'Stop blushing, stop it, holy shit, I am not going to make it. He hasn't even watched the movies! He doesn't even-'_

As the trio approach their group of friends, Lucy playfully studies Natsu's outfit while trying to ignore his shit-eating grin.

"So, what happened to not wasting time watching Kill Bill?" 

"Well," Natsu replies, stretching his arms behind his head, "I decided to give it a chance and it turns out that the movies aren't too bad."

Lucy gives him a one-over, trying not to pay too much attention to how  _good_ the jacket and slightly unbuttoned dress shirt look on him. She also did not expect that the gelled back hair was going to make her all hot and bothered, but here she is, cheeks turning pink and  _okay_ , what is going on again? 

Juvia gently elbows her in the ribs, getting a pissed off look from Lucy and a smirk from the rest of their friends.

"We should probably be heading to class now, so we will see you guys during nutrition!" Levy exclaims, pulling Lucy towards their first period class. Juvia follows suit and soon it's only Natsu and Gray at the locker. As soon as he watches his friends walk out of earshot, he clutches at his chest and slides down his locker, face burning and heart beating.

"Holy shit, man."

"I know... Juvia looked so good in that black outfit," Gray laments, fantasizing about Juvia wearing something tighter and skimpier.

"This is bad, this is really bad, Gray. I just- she was..."

"What? Hot? Attractive?"

"So  _cute,"_ Natsu whispers, grabbing at his head but careful to not touch the gel. 

"Okay, did not expect that. Care to elaborate?"

"Did you  _see_ her expression when she was looking at my costume? Her cheeks puffed up and then she bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows and then her cheeks started turning pink and did you see the way her  _legs_ looked in that bodysuit? Actually, I hope you didn't because then I would want to kick your ass but I'm rambling, this is bad, this is awful. I'm supposed to be badass and cool! This is not cool! I am turning into such a fucking wimp!"

"You're turning into a wimp because you're falling in love."

"I haven't even known her for that long! This doesn't make any sense! How do you know?"

"Know what?"

"That you're falling in love with someone?"

"It's difficult to explain, man. It's nothing poetic or pretty, it's just... you meet each other and you hit it off really well and then you start picturing the two of you doing seemingly boring things, like one of you is watching TV and the other is reading a book but you're both together, you just like the presence of this person with you. It's just something in your gut, you just kind of know."

Natsu stays quiet for a few minutes before he slowly stands back up.

"I'm gonna wait." 

"Alright, dude, that's your choice."

"I don't want to fuck this up, Gray."

"Yeah, I get that, but you also can't wait forever."

Natsu groans and cups his face in his hands. He doesn't know why he's being so fucking  _dramatic_ about this sort of shit. It's been almost exactly a month since he met Lucy, so he shouldn't even be picturing anything that Gray is describing, but he's picturing  _everything_ , he's picturing doing the most mundane and boring things in the world with her, because then it doesn't seem so boring anymore and he knows that he's so _fucked_ , but he can't help it.

The bell rings and Natsu forces himself to stand up to go to class.

"Don't worry about it too much right now, it's Halloween. Today is just a day to chill out and hang out with friends, alright?"

Natsu absently nods and continues to his first period class, trying not to think about Lucy and her lovely smile and infectious laugh.

\--

"We should play Spin the Bottle at the party."

"Do you  _want_ to fucking kill me, Levy?"

"Why, Lu-chan! I would never want to embarrass you," Levy replies, gasping in faux astonishment while trying to hide the smirk behind her hand. It was already lunchtime and the girls were far too excited for the Halloween party. Everything was set up and ready for tonight. Wendy is being let out of school for early dismissal and is going to keep watch over the house for Levy, in exchange for some pizza, candy, and soda, of course. 

"Lucy, just because we have Spin the Bottle, doesn't mean you have to participate," Mirajane chimes in, trying to comfort Lucy's frazzled nerves. 

"But what if Natsu wants to play?"

"Do not worry, Lucy. I will make certain that Natsu will not play Spin the Bottle if you are not participating," Erza replies, cracking her knuckles. 

Lucy smiles weakly at Erza but appreciates her friends wanting to help her out. A few minutes later, a group of girls walk up to their table rather shyly. 

"Hey, um, the Halloween party is today, right?"

"Yeah, 5 o'clock! Do you need the address?" Levy asks, smiling. 

"Oh, my friend already has the address. We just wanted to make sure it was today. Thanks again for inviting us."

"No problem!"

When they leave, Lucy becomes curious. "How many people did you invite, Levy?"

"I actually invited a few people, but those people include Bickslow, and I knew that he was going to start blabbing to a whole bunch of people. I was able to invite almost half of the school and I didn't have to do any work," Levy explains, feeling far too smug for her own good. 

"You are an absolute menace, do you know that?" 

Levy giggles at her Lucy's comment and continues eating her lunch.

\--

They reach Levy's house by 4 o'clock and proceed to walk into the house, expecting Wendy to be sitting on the couch watching TV. What they don't expect is the addition of five of Wendy's friends who are sitting around the TV, eating an assortment of junk food that includes pizza, hot wings, Cheetos, cookies, cupcakes, and at least five liters of Coca-Cola.

"Wow, did we miss the party?" Levy asks, grinning. She isn't upset with Wendy in the least, and is actually pretty surprised that she didn't touch any of the food in the kitchen, opting to instead order in with her friends. 

"P-Please don't tell Natsu," Wendy stammers, face turning cherry red. Her best friend, Sherria, tries to console her while her other friend, Carla, is glaring at the strangers who are making Wendy nervous.

"We're not mad, Wendy. Unfortunately, we _are_ going to have to cut this party short, because we have to set up for our own Halloween party."

"Can we come?" Romeo, another one of Wendy's friends, asks with wide eyes. 

"Sorry, kid. High school students only," Cana replies, plopping onto the couch, her legs dangling over the armrest. 

"I'm in 8th grade! That's almost in high school!"

"Fine, what costume am I wearing? I'll give you a hint." Cana starts whistling the tune that Elle Driver whistles in the hospital.

Romeo gives her a blank expression, causing her to laugh because all it does is prove her point. 

"Alright, you guys have to get a move on now. Thanks for taking care of the place, Wendy," Levy states, walking up to Wendy and ruffling her hair, giving her a warm smile. Wendy returns the smile and her and her friends pick up their food and belongings to take next door. 

"Okay, I just ordered some pizza, alcohol is in the basement fridge, pool lights are set to turn on in an hour, and Gray just texted me that the guys are going to be here in about half an hour. Erza, could you help me change the sheets in the bedrooms? God forbid someone goes upstairs but I just don't want to take any chances," Levy asks, swiping off a few of the crumbs left on the couch. 

"Of course, no problem." 

Cana proceeds to go downstairs to bring up the alcohol, which leaves Juvia and Lucy to start setting out the food and putting away any breakables. 

"So, I didn't know that you and Gray were dating."

Juvia whips her head up and stares at Lucy with wide eyes. "That's not- We're just talking. It's nothing serious, we're just friends."

"Really now? I see the way he looks at you during lunch."

"... How does he look at me?"

"He gives you the  _biggest_ puppy eyes, it's pretty adorable."

Juvia feels her cheeks get hotter with every passing comment, and replies with an extremely weak, "We're just friends."

"You two are so cute together, though."

"Thank you, but it's just... I want to take things slow. I don't want to rush into anything. With college apps and everything that's going on, I just don't want to be a burden on him."

"Juvie, you know that that would never be the case, right?"

"I know, but it's just not the right time, you know? Hopefully either he will ask me out or I'll ask him out, but it's just too soon."

"Fair enough... but just know that he really likes you."

Juvia hip checks her, earning a laugh from Lucy. 

"Look, you got distracted and poured Lays into the Doritos bowl."

"Hey, it was for good reason! You know how much I love hearing about your love life."


	8. baby, you got what i need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god that last chapter was so ugly, it had so many mistakes !! listen I am so bad at writing fanfics, but I am trying lmao anyway hope you guys enjoy !! .xoxo

Levy is glad that she set the party for 5 o'clock, because people didn't start trickling in until 6:30. By the time it hit 8:00, the party was totally in motion. This meant that it would be easier for the party to start winding down at an earlier time, because she did _not_ want to be cleaning up the house at 5 in the morning.

It seemed as if everyone in the junior class was in attendance, dancing and drinking and laughing with their friends. Some of the seniors even showed up with a keg, but Levy made sure that there was a DD for the seniors, because she knew how out of control they could become. 

Cana and Mira were hanging out in the pool together, while Erza and Jellal were busy making out in the pool house bathroom. Levy was sitting on the couch and flirting with Gajeel, who looked way too good in his Reservoir Dogs costume. 

Juvia and Lucy were currently playing strip poker in the guest bedroom with Natsu and Gray. It turns out that the guys are awful at poker, and so they are sitting in nothing except boxers. The girls are faring quite well, with Juvia shirtless and Lucy completely clothed. 

"That's it, I fold. I'm a pussy, let's just get that out of the way," Gray rambles while downing his shot of bourbon as punishment. 

"Same here. My hand is shit, I fold." Juvia throws her cards down and takes her shot, wincing as the hard liquor burns her throat. 

"Looks like it's just you and me, Dragneel."

Natsu gives her an intense stare before saying, "I think I got you this ti-"

Lucy proudly smacks her cards down on the floor.

"Full house."

Natsu's eyes go wide as Lucy smirks in defeat. Juvia feels her face go red and Gray wants to gag because there's no way in hell he ever wants to see Natsu naked in any way, shape, or form. 

Finally, the young man looks at Lucy and smiles sheepishly. "You know what? I'm just glad we all had fun, ya know?"

Lucy almost feels bad until she sees Natsu's eyes glint in mischief, a shit eating grin forming on his face as he shows off his cards. 

"I guess that just makes us four of a kind."

The only thing Lucy can do is stare at the cards as she feels the blood rush from her face. Gray freaks out and congratulates Natsu on his poker face while Juvia can only sit in shock at the events that just unfolded. 

Natsu looks at Lucy and feels his chest hurt at the scared look on her face. In reality, he doesn't want her to do something she's uncomfortable with. The only articles of clothing that she has on are her underwear, bra, and the body suit, meaning that she would have to strip to nothing but her skivvies. 

"Hey, Luce. Look, you don't have to strip, okay? It's just a game, honestly, it doesn't mean anything."

For some reason, this just makes her _more_ determined to follow the rules of the game. She fucking lost! By the rules of strip poker, she has to take off one article of clothing. 

"I'll be right back."

Lucy stands up and walks to the bathroom, causing Natsu to squirm because _holy shit_ , if she comes out in only her underwear, he might just pass out. 

A few moments pass before Lucy walks out again, still adorning the bodysuit. The trio looks at her with confused expressions until she drops something in the center of the room. 

"Lucy, you didn't-"

"It was either the bodysuit or my panties, and I figured the latter might not have been that noticeable, so there you go."

Gray just nods his head and replies, "You got some balls, Heartfilia."

Natsu, on the other hand, could not stop staring at the wadded up ball of cloth on the floor. All he could think about was the fact that Lucy was now only wearing a bra and that bodysuit, because she actually took off her underwear and-

"Oh my, God. Natsu, are you bleeding?"

_'Perfect. This is great, yeah, getting a nosebleed over something like this, God, could you be any more of a bitch, Natsu?'_

All he could do is grab his clothes from the floor and press them against his nose as he stands up and quickly goes to lock himself in the bathroom. 

The three teenagers can only sit in a slightly drunken stupor and contemplate whether they should continue playing or not. 

"I think I just want to chill out for the rest of the party."

Juvia actually giggles at Gray's sentiment because she could not agree more. Gray haphazardly throws on his costume, while Juvia squeezes back into her black turtleneck. Lucy grabs her panties from the floor and just dangles them in her hand, because she has to wait for Natsu to come out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Luce? I'm going back downstairs with Gray. I think there's another bathroom down the hallway, if you wanted to change."

Lucy considers this, because going commando in such a tight fitting body suit is not only uncomfortable, but unhygienic as well. However, she realizes that Natsu is probably pretty embarrassed, and at the end of the day, he's one of her best friends, and she wants to make sure that he's okay.

"You're worried about him," Juvia states, causing Lucy to blush.

"You _have_ to stop reading me like a book, Juvie."

"I can't help it, you have way too many expressions."

Lucy gently knocks her in the shoulder, and Juvia only smiles as her and Gray leave the bedroom. Thus, Lucy is left alone with Natsu, although it can hardly be called alone time when half of the party is in the bathroom with a nosebleed, and the other half is lying down on a bed flipping through different channels. 

Ten minutes later, Natsu finally emerges from the bathroom. He's a little surprised to see that Juvia and Gray were no longer in the room but he's even more surprised that Lucy is lying lazily on the bed, watching some trashy reality show on cable. The young man is tongue tied, because he's still painfully embarrassed at the fact that he got all hot and bothered over Lucy, and he doesn't necessarily know what to say in a situation like this. So he starts off with something simple and hopes that it ends well.

"I'm so fucking sorry."

"For what?" Lucy turns to him and furrows her eyebrows.

Natsu waits a few moments before continuing. "For what happened. You know, the whole- when you just-"

"Ah, you mean when I took off my panties and it made you weak in the knees," Lucy ponders, rubbing at her chin with her forefinger and thumb.

Natsu blushes a deep scarlet and he almost wants to run out of the room until Lucy speaks again.

"If you went commando for strip poker, I probably would have been embarrassed, too."

This probably should have embarrassed Natsu to the ends of the Earth, but all he is able to think of saying in the moment is

"So, I make you weak in the knees, huh?"

Lucy's face flushes and she whips her head towards Natsu, an incredulous stare painted on her face as Natsu gives her a coy smirk. Instead of saying anything, she stands up and walks to the bathroom, her panties still dangling from her hand.

"If you'll excuse me, I've gotta change into something a little more comfortable," Lucy teases, bumping into Natsu as she enters the bathroom and locks the door.

Natsu lets out the breath that he had been holding in and clutches his stomach. His face feels hot and his legs are shaking. 

This is fucking  _terrifying_ , because he's never done this before. Before, the flirting between him and Lucy was cute, teasing, sweet. But now, his body is on  _fire_ , he can't even look at her without fantasizing about kissing her neck and leaving marks near her collarbones. And he can't do  _anything_ , because people don't fall in love in a month. Shit, high school students can barely stay  _together_ for a month, so why should this be any different? Why was it her? Why was he unable to think about anybody else but  ** _her?_**

_'It's just something in your gut, you just kind of know.'_

Quietly, Natsu grabs his jacket from the floor and leaves the guest bedroom. It's Halloween. He has the rest of junior year to think about his feelings for Lucy, so he's going to drink until he fucking vomits. He is going to pass his classes and he is going to ignore the fact that he is so in love with Lucy that he can't even think straight. He hopes that there's still a few bottles of Smirnoff in the kitchen, because he actually  _wants_ the hangover to hinder his memory.

\--

"I wonder how Lucy is doing," Levy mumbles to herself, eyebrows furrowing in worry. Juvia and Gray had walked back downstairs nearly half an hour ago, and were currently flirting in a corner. Natsu just came back down a few minutes ago and nearly sprinted to the kitchen, almost running into Gajeel as he carries two open wine coolers to the living room. Gajeel yells and curses at the fleeing teenager before he continues walking to the couch. Levy sees him and smiles. 

"Thank you so much."

"No problem."

Levy takes a sip of her drink before bringing her legs up to sit cross legged on the couch.

"This is a hell of a party, shorty. Did you think this many people were gonna show up?"

"Of course not, I expected something smaller, maybe a little less than half of the junior class, but then it grew to the entire class  _plus_ some of the seniors. I'm not a really popular person, so I didn't-"

"Oi, cut that shit out. You're alright, McGarden. These fuckers should be lucky that you allowed them to enter your house."

Levy lets out a burst of laughter, causing Gajeel to blush. He coughs and quickly takes another swig of his drink. 

They ease back into their conversation, talking about what they want to do after college, travelling the world, what they hope for in the future. It's strange for Gajeel, because these aren't things that he just casually mentions in conversations, but it's just so fucking  _easy_ with Levy. It's like, talking to your best friend, but it's better than that, because you can picture yourself spending the rest of your life with this person and never being bored and this terrifies and excites Gajeel at the same time. They've been talking since the beginning of sophomore year, where they met in their AP World History class. 

Levy fell for Gajeel on the last day before winter break, when he bought her a set of hardcover books that were going to help her in her senior year AP Literature class. They cost him about $100.00 but he was never going to tell her that. He was also never going to tell her that he fell for her the day after meeting her, when she defended him for using a pen during a vocabulary test because the fucking teacher was going to give him an F, even though he only missed one question. 

Their relationship is a contradiction, because these teenagers don't like to draw attention and yet their relationship is whispered about in the halls. Girls notice how frightening Gajeel is when he walks through the halls, but his tough exterior nearly melts away when he notices Levy, and he suddenly turns into a flustered mess. Guys notice the way Levy's eyes remain sharp when reading a book or listening to a class lecture, but they immediately become warm and soft when her gaze is directed to Gajeel. 

"Gajeel, you're spacing out again."

The young teenager pulls his gaze away from the floor and brings his attention back to Levy and her warm eyes and  _soft skin and pink lips._ Why hasn't he made a move on her yet? Oh, right, because she's way out his league, right. Levy wouldn't be caught dead dating an idiot like himself. 

 _"Excuse_ me?"

_'Did you just fucking say that out loud, Gajeel? Seriously? Are you that fucking stupid?'_

He feels the blush adorning his face and notices one similar on Levy's face but he also notices her pissed off expression, and before he can mumble out an apology, she grabs the lapels of his jacket and devours his mouth in a slightly drunken, passionate kiss. Gajeel takes advantage of this opportunity and deepens the kiss, grabbing at her hips and desperately touching any patch of skin before she realizes her mistake and chocks it up to the alcohol. The living room is already dimly lit and there have been couples making out for the past hour, but the air around them feels syrupy and _hot_ , their kissing is sloppy but it sends a shiver of arousal down each of their bodies. Gajeel feels his pants tighten and realizes that Levy has made her way into his lap and is squirming around to try and find some kind of friction, and it's everything that he's ever  _wanted_ and it's hot and it's  _dangerous_.

Gajeel quickly pushes Levy off his lap, causing her to gasp and glare at him. 

"What the fuck-"

"I'm not drunk and I like you and I can't go any farther because you're kind of drunk."

Levy stares at him with bruised lips, her outfit askew and cheeks cherry red. She nods in understanding, and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

"I like you, too."

"I kind of figured that when you started kissing me."

Levy lets out a small laugh and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips. 

"I'm not that drunk."

"Do you know about the mushroom who was invited to all the parties? It's because he was a fungi."

This causes Levy to burst into a fit of giggles, to which Gajeel simply rolls his eyes and smirks. He's just glad drunk Levy isn't so bad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit this chapter was so long, honestly im getting really close to changing the rating lmao, anyway my tumblr is raywoodofficial so go check it out fam, thanks for reading !! .xo


	9. falling for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this was so short, i just want you guys to know that im writing and i love where this story is headed. i was actually going to write more but this feels like a good place to leave off, so next chapter i can focus more on nalu + also i want to do a gruvia centric chapter also, dont worry, i really wanna include them in the loop as well, so hope you all enjoy!! .xo

"Levy, this is really bad."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm falling in love with Natsu."

"Do you mean... you  _think_ you're falling in love with him?"

"I told you it was bad."

It took Lucy about a month to fall in love with Natsu, and then nearly another month to actually sit down and think about whether it was just her hormones or if it was just the whole high school experience or maybe even his  _hair_ because pink has always been her favorite color, but then she remembers Halloween. What Natsu doesn't know is that her heart had been beating out of her chest and her legs were shaking, and yet her voice had been so calm and unwavering. She had never been able to do that before. She didn't know that she was capable of holding her own against another guy, especially one with so much confidence and passion. 

And then there was the car ride on Friday, where she drove him back to his house because he doesn't even take the bus anymore, and she's never going to tell him that she has to circle around the block because his house is definitely out of the way when going to her house. They were just talking, mindless chit chat as Lucy pulls into the driveway, and as she pulled the emergency brake, he asked her to join his family for Thanksgiving.

Lucy just stared right back at him, because maybe it was going to be something of a party, or something casual, something less important than it sounded. 

"Who's going to be there?"

Natsu gives her a funny look. "Just my family, silly."

"Oh," she mumbles, and she should have been heartbroken, but at the same time, even if Natsu did see her as  _only_ family, it would still be a much better family than she's had in a very long time. Thanksgiving at her house hasn't been a pleasant affair since her mother died, and even while she was alive, her father was still always busy with work, so it was only Lucy and her mother at that large table filled with food.

So she started to mend a few pieces of her slightly broken heart and replied, "You consider me family? You're so sweet."

Natsu's face had drained of color and before she could ask why, he blurted out, "Not as my _family_ , you don't think about kissing your family, Luce!"

"Oh."

Lucy processed exactly what he said and if she hadn't been so caught off guard, she would have made some sort of dumb joke, but he said it so quickly. Then, the car door had slammed shut and Lucy watched as Natsu sprinted to his front door, struggled with opening the door, and finally yelled and resorted to banging on the door for Wendy. Lucy had laughed because even through his embarrassment, he was still pretty over dramatic. Eventually, Wendy opened the door and Natsu tripped while running inside. Wendy waved to Lucy and she waved back before pulling out of the driveway and heading home. 

But now as she lays on her bed that cool Wednesday night right before Thanksgiving, she can't help but think if this has fucked everything up between them. 

As if answering her prayers, her phone pinged with a notification of a new message. 

"Wait, Lev, I just got a text."

Lucy opens the message and nearly blushes at what she reads. 

_I still want you there for Thanksgiving tomorrow._

**Then you better save me a seat, Dragneel. xo**

Natsu nearly chokes after reading his response, and he has to run to the bathroom and throw some cold water on his face because  _fuck,_ this girl is going to be the absolute  _death_ of him. 

\--

Meanwhile, Levy is dealing with her own, for lack of a better term,  _love_ problems.

Ever since Halloween, Gajeel has not stepped foot near the bookworm, not even to say hello or even make eye-contact. However, the only reason that he isn't technically ignoring her is because he has written her love notes every single day since Halloween and puts them in her locker. Levy knows that he has to be there early to stick them in her locker, because she's usually at her locker at 7:15 on the dot, which means that Gajeel always manages to be there at least fifteen minutes ahead of her. She wants to communicate with him in some way, but it's almost impressive how easily he's able to avoid her, and with her complex schedule and study hours, she doesn't really have time to run around the halls and confront him. 

So, she saves every single note, tapes them into a journal and rereads them if she's feeling lonely. Some of them are funny,  _ **'dragneel said he didn't like blue haired girls, i called him a fucking idiot. xo'** **,**_ and some of them are sweet,  _ **'i'm sorry i can't speak to you in person, i feel like i would probably faint from your beauty... p.s dont tell anybody i said that, shorty'**_

But her favorite ones are the ones that make her cheeks heat up and her heart flutter,  _ **'would you be mad if i pressed you against a wall and kissed you senseless? i dont deserve you, you're a fucking angel,'**_ or even the ones that make her squirm in her seat,  _ **'this is embarrassing to write... but i want to kiss you all over your body and make you cry out my name, i want to worship your body, i can't believe you're real'**_

Levy had been contemplating delivering a note to his locker, but her expertise had always been scholarly essays, not romantic poems. It takes her nearly until the start of Thanksgiving break that she's able to write him a poem worthy of her love of him.

_'I hope you know how much I care for you, and how much I want to make you mine. I miss talking to you, I miss your laugh, I miss you and your lips and the scent of your cologne. I want to see you in person, please let me in. I want to touch you all over.'_

The young teenager feels lightheaded because oh my,  _god_ , this is the filthiest thing that she's  _ever written_ and she doesn't know how she's going to recover from this. 

\--

The Thursday before break, Levy asks to use the restroom during first period. She makes a beeline towards Gajeel's locker, because she knows that he has to take out his Calculus textbook from his locker. It takes her a few moments to compose herself, before she pulls out the note and folds it once, twice, and finally a third time. She sticks it into his locker and breathes a sigh of relief and turns towards the end of the hall, where Gajeel is standing.

_'No nononononono please God why?!'_

She makes a mad dash for the other end of the hall, but Gajeel has longer legs and stronger arms, and manages to catch her and throw her over his shoulder. 

"Put me down this instant! Gajeel! Don't read my note! I'm going to punch you in the face!  _Gajeel!"_

The young man doesn't respond and instead opens his locker, where a small piece of paper is laying gently on his History textbook. He opens it with one hand, while Levy is still pleading and begging him not to read it, no doubt bothering all of the classes that are still in session. He finishes the note, so he folds it back up and stuffs it in his pocket, while Levy is already crying from sheer mortification. Gajeel gently places her back down but still holds a firm grip on her arms so she won't run away. Levy has calmed down enough that she's letting out small hiccups and sobs from her throat, her face blotchy and eyelashes clumped with tears. 

"Can I kiss you?"

Levy feels her heart jump to her throat because she knows that he likes her, and he knows that she likes him, but it feels so nice.

"I missed you," Levy whispers, nearly letting out another sob before Gajeel captures her lips with his. 


	10. can't help falling in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that it's been so long, college is so much fun and awesome and great !! but college is also *takes a deep breath* *screams for 97 minutes* sorry that this is such fucking garbage but i want you all to know that i am still writing this story !! hopefully i can write another chapter soon because im on winter break !! hope you're all doing well !!
> 
> here are some refs for the outfits !! -- [lucy](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/26/75/a6/2675a6892b785129df9d26f8a23884db.jpg) (except in burgundy and gray) -- [wendy](https://amariglamguide.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/img_2571.png) (skirt is longer) -- [natsu](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/47/51/80/4751804cb054471e5ab837d1b72b212f.jpg)

"Don't be nervous."

"Um,  _what_ are you even  _talking_ about? I am the epitome of cool and collected."

"You've been contemplating which shirt to wear for the past twenty-four minutes."

Lucy chucks both of the shirts, hangers still attached, into the back of her closet. She gives a thumbs up to Juvia, who is giving her an exasperated expression from the computer monitor. 

She didn't think that choosing an outfit for a Thanksgiving dinner would be this difficult, but spoiler alert: Lucy is about to have a meltdown because everything she owns is either  _too much_ or  _not enough_ , and do not ask her to explain what the fuck that means, because she barely knows but it just sounds right to her.

"It's just- I'm overthinking this, right? I know I am, but does that mean I'm going to stop? No, it doesn't."

"You should drink some tea."

"I will drink tea when I'm  _dead_."

"That's not- that literally just proves my point, Lucy."

"Okay look," Lucy starts, sitting down at her desk chair for a moment of peace, "I'm meeting his parents for the first time. Not only is  _that_ stressing me out, but it's also going to be on  _Thanksgiving_ , the holiday of love and family and being grateful and I just want to make a good impression."

"... Do you still have that burgundy dress? The sleeveless one that reaches the knees?"

"Yes, but it's  _sleeveless_ , Juvia. That's way too daring for-"

"Wait, let me finish, Woman! Is your gray long sleeve clean?"

Lucy stands up and walks over to the closet, pulling out the form fitting shirt from her stack of sleeping shirts. She puts it on and then reaches for the abandoned dress on her bed. Walking to the mirror, she does a once-over, a twice-over, and then a twirl. A sigh escapes her lips.

"Okay, so you're a genius, Juvie."

"I mean, I _know_ this, but thanks for the ego boost," Juvia replies, blowing Lucy a cheeky kiss. 

"Alright, so I'm halfway done. Now I need the shoes, the makeup style, the hairstyle-"

"How about I just scream for an hour? Because that is basically the same thing."

"Holy shit."

"You're right, that was probably a bit too sarcastic."

"No, not  _that_. I need to bring a gift, food, an appetizer,  _something!_ Oh my, God. I'm gonna- yeah, I'm going to fucking vomit."

"You are not going to throw up, oh my, God. Think about _everything_ you could bring to a Thanksgiving dinner. It's not just green bean casseroles and turkey."

Lucy thinks about anything in the house that she could take, and suddenly, she dashes out of the room, leaving a confused and slightly frightened Juvia on her computer screen. Nearly ten minutes later, Lucy returns with a very large and  _very_ expensive bottle of wine. 

"You are ridiculous."

"Say hello to the 8th most expensive bottle of wine in the world,  _Domaine Leroy Chambertin Grand Cru_ , from Cote de Nuits, France," Lucy says, her French accent nearly impeccable.

"Don't you think it's just a  _tiny_ bit much?"

"I _could_ have grabbed the most expensive bottle of wine in the world, so no, I think this is fine."

\--

Thanksgiving comes around faster than Lucy would have liked. Thinking about spending time with Natsu's family _still_  sends a swarm of butterflies into her stomach, because the last thing she wants to do is stick her foot in her mouth and have his parents utterly despise her. Unfortunately, there are not many escape routes that she can concoct from the sanctity of her car, which is already parked in their driveway. Lucy takes a few deep breaths, smooths out her hair, and grabs the bottle of wine from the backseat. 

Walking from the driveway to the front door feels like the length of a football field, and her heels have never felt more uncomfortable in her life, but she rings the doorbell and takes another deep breath before the door swings open to reveal Wendy, face flushed after being inside the kitchen. She's wearing a burgundy sweater, black skirt, tights, and brown boots. Her hair is tied up into a messy bun and she looks much older than her actual age, but her face still carries a childlike innocence that makes Lucy smile warmly. 

"Oh,  _Lucy_ , you look gorgeous! My brother is going to  _faint_ from your beauty!"

A deep blush floods Lucy's cheeks, and all she can do is smile and allow Wendy to escort her into the house. The rich smells of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes waft her nose, and she takes a deep breath in, remembering her mother's honey glazed ham and homemade garlic mashed potatoes. She always asked to peel and dice the carrots for the stuffing, because her mother would always accidentally nick her fingers, and she knew that her mother was much better at prepping the turkey. It was always tender and flavorful, but Lucy made sure to leave room for the homemade pumpkin pie, a recipe passed down for many generations.

"Natsu! Hurry downstairs, your lovely guest has arrived!"

Lucy brings herself back to the present at this comment from Natsu's mother. She introduces herself as Grandine, a beautiful woman who is clearly aging gracefully, with deep navy hair and light eyes. Natsu is her spitting image, except in the eyes. It's clear that he inherited his sharp eyes from his father, who holds out a hand for Lucy to shake. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucy. We've heard so much about you. Please, call me Igneel," Natsu's father states. His light auburn hair is already streaked in gray but he is still dashingly handsome. Lucy wonders how Natsu's hair will look twenty years from now and she feels her heart quiver when she thinks about growing old together with Natsu. 

Lucy gives him a firm handshake, one of the few things that she is grateful to her father for teaching her. Grandine opts for a warm embrace, and her scent is motherly, something Lucy hasn't smelled in nearly ten years. It's slightly overwhelming, but she merely smiles and thanks her when she mentions how happy she is that her son decided to bring such a lovely and beautiful girl home.

"Lucy was also carrying this bottle of wine when I opened the door!"

"Oh, my. This looks quite expensive, we couldn't possibly accept this."

"I insist, really. I want you both to know how grateful I am that you opened up your home to me," Lucy replies, feeling her nerves relax slightly as she realizes how much Natsu's mother reminds her of home.

"Well, thank you, sugar plum. I'll be sure to enjoy this with my meal tonight!"

"Um, sweetheart? There are  _two_ adults in this house, thank you very much."

"Oh, darling, you're going to have to pry this bottle out of my cold, dead hands," Grandine responds, giving him a big smile and a quick kiss on the cheek before going to place the wine in the dining room.

There's a cacophony of footsteps from behind Lucy, and she looks up to see Natsu hurrying downstairs, clad in a crewneck and fitted slacks. His hair is as spiky as ever, but he still manages to look handsome and debonair. Lucy feels her knees buckle as he finally focuses on her. His eyes widen and his cheeks flush crimson but Natsu still manages to give her a sexy smirk that causes her body temperature to rise.

 _'I am going to fucking die,'_ Lucy thinks to herself as he embraces her. He smells like cologne, the good kind, too. She absently wonders why he doesn't wear it all the time. 

"I'm really glad you're here," Natsu says softly, his expression turning soft for a few moments before the cheeky look returns in his eyes as he gives her outfit a once over. "So, you look like a parochial school teacher..."

"I will take that as a _compliment_ , thank you. I wanted your parents to see me as a proper young lady," Lucy replies, standing up straight and tall and flattening her hair once more. Natsu can only snort at this facade, but continues to play along. It's pretty endearing how much she values the opinion of his parents, so who is he to try and spoil her goody two shoes image? 

"Sure, a proper young lady who also wears lace underwear under a skintight bodysuit."

Lucy gasps and smacks Natsu in the stomach, earning her a painful groan and a sheepish grin.

\--

Dinner is a boisterous and warm affair, and Grandine and Igneel chime about how often Natsu mentions his new best friend and how close they've become and much he cares about her and Lucy beams, because at the end of the day, all of her feelings are present because of how  _easy_ they get along and how she can tell him  _everything_ about her life without any hesitation. Natsu gets a little embarrassed but still manages to keep an easygoing demeanor as Lucy enjoys the festivities.

Once dinner and dessert is finished, Natsu's parents decide to open the bottle of wine and move to the living room with Wendy, while Lucy and Natsu decide to hang out in his room. After some teasing from his parents and sister, they walk upstairs and walk to the end of the hallway where Natsu stops in front of the last door on the right.

"Welcome to my humble abode, M'lady," Natsu says, opening his bedroom door.

"Wouldn't the house be your humble abode?" Lucy asks, holding back laughter when she notices some of the nerdy trinkets that Natsu has probably had since middle school. Is that a binder full of Pokemon cards she sees? Well, that's not too bad, Pokemon is still pretty cool.

"Yeah, but this is my inner sanctum, where the  _magic_ happens," Natsu drawls suggestively, waggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah, because nobody could resist a stud with an anime body pillow hiding in the closet," Lucy retorts, causing Natsu to blush as he quickly shuts the closet door.

"Like you don't have one of those bad boys."

"Yes, but mine didn't have one of the girls from 'Ah! My Goddess' printed on it."

Natsu just scowls as his blush deepens, while Lucy continues to look around his room. The walls are painted a light mint green, with gray curtains covering the window and a small desk sitting in the corner. It's quite different from what she had expected. Instead of an abundance of random knick knacks and clothes strewn over the floor, his room is sparse in objects and it's clear that Natsu only keeps things that have important sentimental value to him. She takes note of the cork board with pictures of only his closest friends and family, and then spots a piece of paper pinned in the corner, hidden behind a picture of Wendy as a baby.

"Is that... my number?"

"Oh! Yeah, uh, I just decided to keep that. That's probably a little weird, but-"

"Don't say that, I think it's sweet."

Natsu looks at Lucy's face as she continues scoping out his room and almost loses his breath because  _holy shit_ , the most beautiful girl in the world is standing in his room with the softest expression on her face and he has to remind himself that he has only known this girl for two months and he has to just chill the fuck out. 

Lucy grabs the lone Pikachu plushy from his bed and admires how soft the material is and Natsu is so fucking gone, there's no turning back and it's  _terrifying_ and  _wonderful_ at the exact same time.

"You've been awfully quiet," Lucy comments, sitting on his bed with the plushy cradled on her lap.

"Ah, sorry. Have a lot on my mind," Natsu replies, pulling out his desk chair and sitting down.

"Thanks for inviting me. Your family is lovely."

"That's just because you're here, trust me."

Lucy lets out a laugh that shakes her shoulders, a bright smile forming on her face and she can't even remember the last time when she felt so comfortable and so at home. She continues to sit in a comfortable silence until Natsu says her name and she looks at him.

"May I kiss you?"

Lucy's heart clutches in a vise and her breathing goes shallow as she fully grasps his statement and she can't quite keep her mind straight until Natsu speaks again.

"O-On the cheek. You've already kissed me on the cheek, so I just- I was just..." Natsu trails off, his face tomato red and his eyes glued on the ground.

The vise loosens ever so slightly, just enough that Lucy can mutter out, "Go ahead."

Natsu leans forward and tucks her hair behind her ear as he kisses her cheek. He quickly pulls away, refusing to look her in the eyes. 

"You are... _such_ a fucking romantic." 

The way Lucy says it is filled with so much fondness and adoration that Natsu can't help but shrug his shoulders and grin. Lucy laughs at how ridiculous this entire situation is but she can't help but also think how  _right_ everything feels. She doesn't quite know what any of this is, but it's clear that he likes her, and she likes him, and yet she knows that it's nearly impossible to fall in love with someone so  _quickly_ but she's just going to be patient, because right now, Natsu is looking at her as if she hung the moon. 

So they lie down next to each other in his bed, talking about their friends and their families, teasing each other because they're best friends, but also tangling their fingers together until they fit perfectly like puzzle pieces. 


	11. keep your body still

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy Fuck how did i actually manage to finish another chapter, like wow im sorry this took so long, also i guess i have to like, start putting warnings at the end of chapters now? nothing super bad i guess, but i'd rather be safe than sorry. i have to say that this chapter just immediately reminded me of how much i love this story, so i gotta figure out what to write next lol but i hope you guys enjoy this chapter !!

"So, you two are dating."

"We are _not_  dating."

"Okay, you two are more than friends but not dating, this sounds like a bad yaoi."

"Why did your mind  _immediately_ go to yaoi? Why?"

"Hey, this isn't about me," Juvia retorts, waving off Lucy's comment. "This is about you and Natsu and this strange limbo that you found yourselves in."

"Juvia, I've only known him for like, three months, not _even_ three months. Do you know what happens to couples who start a relationship with no foundation? They fight and they argue and the relationship crumbles and they can't go back to being friends and... the thought of not being friends with Natsu puts a lump in my throat."

"What's his favorite color?"

"Green."

"What's his favorite food?"

"Spicy ramen."

"What's his favorite drink?"

"Water or lemonade."

Juvia looks up at Lucy with the most exasperated expression known to man, but Lucy knows exactly what her friend is trying to say and responds with, "Just because I know basic _facts_ about him does not mean that we are meant to be with each other; this is not  _500 Days of Summer_ and I am not Sid Vicious."

"You got me there," Juvia replies before sighing and falling onto the bean bag in the corner of Lucy's room. Their study session for Calculus quickly became nonexistent and the book on her bed is now gathering dust as they discuss more important matters.

"I mean, do we even  _have_ to define our relationship? It's not like I'm going to fall for another guy anytime soon."

"What about him?"

Lucy looks over at Juvia from her bed and furrows her eyebrows. 

"Do you think... he's interested in somebody else?"

"I should have been a bit more specific. Lisanna has had a crush on Natsu for years."

"Oh."

Lucy rolls over so that she's facing the ceiling. Her entire room is painted lilac but her ceiling is patterned with creme colored swirls. If she stares for too long and closes her eyes, the swirls paint the inside of her eyelids. While it usually puts her to sleep, right now it's just making her stomach flip, because the swirls of creme are painted on stark white, and the curled ends remind her of Lisanna's hair. Lucy wonders if she imagines herself dating Natsu, kissing him, holding his hand, running her hand through his soft pink hair. 

_'You're not special, you know.'_

_'Guys only care about looks, so you're really lucky you don't have to try hard.'_

_'I didn't mean for you to fall in love with me, I just wanted- well, you know.'_

"Lucy!"

Juvia watches as her friends eyes snap open, her eyes glazed over as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep.

"Sorry, I'm fucking exhausted," Lucy replies, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand. 

"Maybe it's because you stayed up until four in the morning texting Natsu."

"Shh, let me live."

Juvia pats her cheek in affection, and walks to the door to put on her shoes. 

"You're leaving already?"

"I've gotta babysit for my Aunt Kiko."

"Isn't Kairi already fourteen?"

"Yeah, but Aunty is overprotective," Juvia says, slinging her backpack on one shoulder. "Get started on your math homework or else I'm gonna dropkick you."

"I'd be lost without you."

Juvia blows a kiss and closes the door behind her.

Lucy is going to lose her mind if she continues to dwell on the whole Lisanna thing, so she decides to call up Levy. The phone rings for an unusually long time before the call goes through. 

"Hey! Um, this is going to be super rude, but I'm... kind of on a date?"

"Oh, shit, my bad. Call me later for the details. Tell Gajeel I said hi. Talk to you later."

\--

"Of course! Call you later!" 

Levy puts her phone back in her purse before her body freezes in shock. Lucy knew that she was on a date with Gajeel and her comment was so nonchalant, she was about to have a heart attack in the restaurant, holy shi-

"Wait, _wait_ , I told her about Gajeel. Oh my, God. That's not something I'm used to yet, holy crap," Levy whispers to herself, lightly tapping her cheeks with her palms. 

Although it's already dark, the date is nothing too extravagant: a trip to the park earlier in the day, followed by ramen and then milkshakes at the local ice cream parlor. It's all so new for her, and despite how close her and Gajeel are in terms of friendship, it still makes her heart jump when he reaches for her hand or when he smiles softly as she starts going on and on about nothing in particular. 

After the phone call with Lucy, the young woman walks back to the table, where Gajeel is idly scrolling through his phone. As soon as he sees her, he immediately puts his phone back into his pocket. 

"I'm so sorry, I had to answer just in case it was an emergency, but Lucy is fine, she says hello."

"That's nice of her, don't know how the fuck she's able to stand Natsu but all's fair in love and war, I guess."

Levy laughs at this, but then her expression turns a bit somber. The ice cream parlor is closing in about thirty minutes, but it's already been empty for quite some time. Levy looks down at her hands and then back up at Gajeel.

"Why did you avoid me?"

Gajeel's face relaxes into a melancholic expression.

"I was nervous that you were going to say that it was a mistake, so I couldn't... I don't think I would have been to able to handle it if you did say that to me. I was a coward, and I'm sorry."

"And, the notes in my locker?"

Gajeel blushes as he replies, "I needed you to know that it wasn't a mistake for me."

Levy smiles softly in understanding, but still leans over to gently slap his arm in annoyance.

"It obviously wasn't a mistake, you idiot. I've liked you for a while now."

"Well, yeah, I can see that now," Gajeel says, taking another sip of his cookies and creme milkshake.

Levy stares quizzically at Gajeel before asking, "Can I ask you something personal?"

"For you, anything."

"Are you a virgin?"

Gajeel closes his eyes and covers his face with his hands as he lets out a groan. "You're fucking killing me, Levy."

"Okay, the reaction is cute, but unfortunately that's not an answer."

The young man sighs and leans his face on one hand, but keeps his eyes glued to the table.

"No, I'm not."

"Oh, okay. I'm a virgin, just in case you were wondering."

"You're quite comfortable talking about this."

"I'm very comfortable with asking fact-based questions."

Gajeel looks at her peculiarly, and then asks, "Have you ever kissed anyone before me?"

"Yup."

"Have you ever dreamt about me?"

"Yes."

"A good dream or a bad dream?"

"Depends on your definition of good or bad," Levy replies, looking Gajeel straight in the eyes as she finishes off her mint chocolate chip milkshake.

" _Oh_ , okay. I understand now. You're actually really comfortable talking about sex and kinky shit."

"Well, I'm certainly not uncomfortable with it."

"That means," Gajeel starts, leaning over to take her hand in his, "You melt into a puddle over romantic shit."

Levy's face starts to flush, but her voice refuses to waver as she says, "You have no proof."

"So, when we get married, do you want the right side of the bed, or the left side?"

"Oh my,  _God_ , stop talking, _please_ -"

"Wait, I'll actually take the side closest to the door, that way I can be the one to get up when our baby starts to cry."

Levy has to cover her face with one hand, because Gajeel refuses to let go of her other one, gently rubbing his thumb against hers.

"I can't  _believe_ you would joke about this just to get a reaction out of me," Levy says, her expression turning sour as she refuses to meet his gaze.

"The fact that you think I'm joking is actually a little bit sad, but I suppose it's understandable."

The young woman immediately whips her head forward, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Gajeel, please don't say that if you don't mean-"

"I'm applying to MIT and Harvard, for computer engineering. I mean, uh, they're both long shots, but I know that you're applying to Boston University for English, and you're definitely getting accepted, they would be fucking idiots if they didn't accept you, but if there's the chance that I could-"

Levy interrupts him with a forceful kiss, tipping her glass over in the process. 

"Levy... your glass..." Gajeel says in between kisses, feeling lightheaded as his pants starts to tighten. 

"Empty..." Levy replies, giving him one last kiss before pulling a twenty out of her purse and leaving it on the table. She then grabs his hand and leads him out of the parlor towards her house.

"L-Levy, are we..?"

"Absolutely."

"W-Wait, I don't have-"

"I have everything you could possibly imagine."

"The girl I had sex with was trans, Levy."

That statement causes Levy to stop dead in her tracks, Gajeel stopping just a few inches behind her. 

"Now I understand why you're so nervous."

"I-I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner."

"No, that's okay. Where did you meet her?"

"I went to school with her, and I bumped into her at a party, and I wasn't looking for anything, she was pretty but I didn't feel anything. She knew that, but she said that guys usually don't want to hook up with her when they find out that she's trans, and I just, didn't really care? Fuck, I sound like an jackass, but I didn't care, so I hooked up with her and that was it, really."

"Not to be super imposing or anything, but were you giving or receiving?"

"We, uh, decided that she would be... giving, since she was, uh, smaller, I guess."

"If you're more comfortable with that, then that's okay."

Gajeel feels his heart skip a beat and his palms start to sweat, because holy  _shit_ , he is literally just pouring out everything and Levy is taking everything like a fucking champ. Levy notices his apprehension and realizes that she has to slow down a little bit, so she takes both of his hands and kisses him on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, you told me a lot and I'm just thinking about myself."

"No, you're not- You're the first person I've told about this and you're taking everything so well."

"Yeah, because you're not telling me anything bad. Am I a little jealous of her because she was your first? Yes, but that happens to everyone. Everything else is just factual. Your first time was with a girl who just happened to have different appendages than I do."

Gajeel feels all the tension in his shoulders release, and it feels as if he's swimming. 

"Let's go back to your place," He says, taking her hand in his as they resume walking to Levy's house.

"Are you sure? We don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"I don't know, Shorty, you sure did say a lot of things that were really tempting."

"Is this a good time to mention that my Aunt Lucky works at a sex shop, and she actually just sent me a strap-on that I have no idea how to use-"

Gajeel immediately picks Levy and proceeds to run to her house, her laughter echoing under the night sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: mentions of sex + sextoys, cause i dont really think that counts as explicit, but i still think i should put a warning lol (also i hope this isnt super ooc compared to previous chapters, i think i made Gajeel too soft but dont worry he's still super scary and badass) ((also Gajeel is straight cause im definitely gonna get that question)) (((also im cis so if any trans readers want to rip me to shreds please feel free to cause i definitely want to make sure that my writing is accurate)))
> 
> i was really nervous about how to end the chapter (cause im shit at ending chapters lol) but hopefully it wasnt too cheesy or anything.
> 
> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/romyavery) or [tumblr](http://raywoodpls.tumblr.com/tagged/r) !!!


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